Former Lincoln City forward Anthony Scully ended a memorable day by scoring on his debut for new club Exeter City.
Scully had been without a club over the summer after leaving Shrewsbury Town at the end of last season.
But after penning a one-year deal with the Grecians earlier today, he became the matchwinner as they defeated Rotherham United by a single goal.
The ex-Imp has a family connection with Exeter, after his father, Tony, represented the club on loan over 20 years ago.
It’s great to see this particular ex-Lincoln man back up and running after an injury-hit few years. Scully was snapped up by the Imps in February 2020, leaving the Imps’ now-Championship rivals, West Ham United, in favour of a move to Lincolnshire. He had been a frequent performer in the Hammers academy, but left East London in search of consistent senior football. Scoring twice in his first five appearances in the shortened 2019/20 campaign, that was merely a sign of things to come. In his and Lincoln’s final match before the Covid-19 lockdown, the 29-year-old grabbed a goal and an assist as we edged past Burton Albion.
Despite grabbing a goal against Oxford United on the opening day of the following campaign, he was in and out of the side as City began the campaign in strong form. It wasn’t until November that he started another league match, and a further six weeks until Scully eventually bagged his second league goal of the campaign. However, that opened the floodgates, with five goal contributions in as many appearances. He would eventually end the season with 17 goals and nine assists across all competitions, a fantastic return given how the campaign began.
Despite a knee injury disrupting the 21/22 campaign, the Irishman still managed 35 League One appearances, again scoring 11 times in the league and adding a further seven assists. He would only play a further eight times for the Imps at the start of the 22/23 season, ending his time at Sincil Bank with 37 goals and 19 assists in 106 appearances.
How Has Scully Fared Since Departing Lincoln?
Unfortunately, as mentioned, Scully has had a tough time of things since leaving Lincolnshire in 2022. Stepping up to the Championship with Wigan Athletic, he only featured on five occasions for the Latics in his only season, as they were relegated from the second tier. Swiftly moving to Portsmouth, injury issues resurfaced, limiting him to just nine matches for Pompey across two seasons.
He did link up with ex-Imps gaffer Danny Cowley at Colchester United during a season-long loan, playing 15 times in the fourth tier. Michael Appleton brought his former forward to Shrewsbury Town for the 25/26 season. Scully enjoyed his best campaign on a personal level in years, scoring five times in 35 matches.
However, he left Salop at the end of his one-year deal, and spent the summer with the PFA as he searched for a new club. That finally arrived today, with Exeter enduring a difficult start to the season following their relegation to League Two. Matt Taylor’s side began the day only one point above the bottom two places in the fourth tier, and were desperately short of attacking quality.
Without a goal in their last four league matches, supporters of the south-west outfit were therefore buoyed by the acquisition of Scully this morning. Just over three hours later, he was named in the starting XI, and early in the second half, he rewarded that faith from his new gaffer. He had already had an effort blocked earlier in the game, but made no mistake in finishing Charlie Cummins’ cross for the game’s only goal.
Hopefully that’s the first of many for an ex-Lincoln player that we’d all be happy to see fit and firing again.
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